Bob Doiron loses WCB appeal over termination of benefits

A Charlottetown man has lost his court appeal over the termination of his Workers Compensation benefits.

Bob Doiron, 52, injured himself in a fall while working with UPEI campus security in October 2015.

The Workers Compensation Board (WCB) granted him benefits but was working on a plan to gradually see him return to work full-time.

The WCB cut off his benefits in July 2016, after deciding he wasn't co-operating with a plan to ease back to work, which had been approved by a physiotherapist and the board's medical advisor.

That decision was upheld by a Workers Compensation Appeals Tribunal (WCAT) in October 2017 which also accused Doiron of abusing the program by misrepresenting his condition.

For his part, Doiron said he was in too much pain to return to work full-time.

He took his case to the P.E.I. Appeal Court in May and on Wednesday the court dismissed Doiron's appeal.

"The ultimate question before this court is not whether we agree with the decision made by WCAT but whether it was reasonable in its decision-making process," said Justice John Mitchell in a written decision.

Mitchell found WCAT's decision to terminate Doiron's benefits "is a reasonable one based upon the evidence."

'We're all devastated'

Doiron told CBC he didn't expect the decision to go this way.

"We're all devastated. Like I was banking on winning this, and when the court comes back and says you know, we're not to get involved in the correctness of the trial or the case, just the reasonableness. I don't know where I'm supposed to go."

Doiron, who worked full-time with UPEI campus security before his accident, said he has only been able to work part-time since — three hours a day, three days a week.

He is also a Charlottetown city councillor.

He said he's spent more than $65,000 in legal fees on this case and doesn't know what he'll do now.

"I don't know. I emailed my employer, said I lost today, I don't know what's going to happen. You know medically I — what do I do now, my leg is not fixed."

Doiron said he is checking into whether he can appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, but expects that would cost "hundreds of thousands of dollars. I don't have that money."

He said he is still on a wait-list for surgery to repair his injury.

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